Woke & Virtue Signalling

Contact Bruce About PWP Links Photo Credits:- Line art Jesus Christ (GDJ, Pixabay) [Click on it to enlarge it] Oligarchy/ Plutocracy (geralt, Pixabay) Buddha sculpture (stux, Pixabay) Star signals (FelixMittermeier, Pixabay) Cosmic enlightenment (Vic_B, Pixabay) Be Awake! (johnhain, Pixabay) Jesus enters Jerusalem by Gustave Doré (Wikimedia Commons; no known copyright restrictions)

Woke & Virtue Signalling Introduction Wokedom/Wokery = Wisdom/Enlightenment Virtue Signalling Conclusion Quotes Resources Introduction Both being woke and virtue signalling are terms that the political Right and other trolls use to attack issues that threaten their unjust and evil power. Evil forces are trying to bring into disrepute both enlightened ways of being and virtuous living. They want you to be not virtuous and not woke so they can continue their power and money hungry ways and their evil ecocide. It's a classic case of: "Drag everyone down to your level. Keep the waters as muddy as possible. That way no one can see your own shit." (John Crace, The Guardian, posted and accessed 30 March 2022) Jesus Christ was an amazing example of someone both virtuous and woke. If he were alive today, for his efforts he would be being trolled, hated on, cancelled, perhaps even executed (again). Stop the deflection and deception of plutocracy and oligarchy!! Wokedom/Wokery = Wisdom/Enlightenment I am using the definition of woke as being sensitive to issues of social justice like inequality and racism. Although woke has its origins in African-American political consciousness, I see very much a link to the word awakened. That is, awakened in the terms of being wise and spiritually enlightened. Being awakened is a massive aim of spiritual discipline throughout history. Buddhas are literally woke, as Buddha means ‘awakened one’! Buddhas are awake to the right way of living, just as many woke people today are awake to causes that will help humanity (e.g. eco-activism, veganism, dismantling white supremacist capitalist patriarchy). In Christianity, Jesus and Saints are shown with golden halos because they have awakened to the Light of God and seek justice and equality. Do stay connected to this Light, you need to be switched on! Virtue Signalling Virtue is so needed on Earth now. So many politicians, like Trump, Boris Johnson and Putin are non-stop liars. And darker still are oligarchs like Rupert Murdoch. Virtue is closely aligned with the High Ideal and is absolutely essential for the wellbeing of humanity. What is not essential is having to boast about it, signal it, so-called humblebrag: "Disciples must find the right balance between pride and excessive humility. They should not be completely self-effaced on the pretext of humility, or they will end up becoming idiotic and stupid. But neither should they be overly conceited on the pretext that they are following a spiritual teaching, for then they will become simply ridiculous. It is most difficult to strike the right balance. Even in the initiatic schools of the past, very few disciples were able to avoid giving way to pride or excessive humility – which is often nothing but pride in disguise! So be careful not to make the same mistakes. You must know how to be dressed like a king while remaining a humble servant." (O.M. Aïvanhov) "Proud people imagine they are great, and always see themselves rising above others. But in reality, they themselves are not growing, a tumour is developing inside of them. To inflate themselves is not the same as growing. A person's true growth causes rays, sparks, and vibrations beneficial to everyone to spring forth from them, and only humility fosters this growth. One of life’s great secrets thus lies in this so rarely understood and appreciated virtue: humility – the awareness that there exists a superior world and the will to be in harmony with the entities that inhabit it: the angels, archangels, and so on, up to God. This is why it can be said that humility is a form of intelligence. By casting their gaze upwards, a humble person discovers the infinity of heaven and feels drawn to it, absorbed by it. By simply changing the direction of their gaze, they enter into immensity." (O.M. Aïvanhov) Just do good, be virtuous. It is God’s Way. Perhaps this shows how virtue can be displayed, subtly like the stars? Conclusion Be awake to Divine ways by being switched on to luminous and compassionate lifestyles, like Solar Culture and the Culture of Love. Be virtuous without having to show off about it. Quietly give the glory to God. It is all a lifelong task... Woke Virtue = Do virtue and inwardly say "Glory be to God!" Quotes The kind of people who used to insist that "manners maketh man" now decry good manners as “wokeism”. Why? Because good manners are supposed to be directed only towards powerful, entitled people like themselves. Not towards vulnerable minorities. They see it as a zero sum game. If they cannot command a special respect, afforded to no one else, they perceive it as a loss of social status. What they decry as "woke" is, in reality, universal respect, which does not differentiate on the grounds of a person's standing in the supposed social hierarchy. And this means a perceived loss of power for those who believe they stand on the pinnacle. (George Monbiot, 2 August 2022 tweets) It doesn’t matter whether or not it makes sense; it doesn’t matter if, put on the spot, people struggle to describe what “woke” actually means. All that matters is that a hate figure has been created, a shortcut, a shibboleth, a means by which bigots can identify one another and give voice to their prejudice, without fear of censure... to dress up hate speech as fair comment. (Zoe Williams, The Guardian, posted and accessed 19 December 2022) If "woke" is the opposite of "fascist," I am superwoke, megawoke, McWoke, KentuckyFried-Woke, wokeaholic, wokerino, wokity wokity WOKE. (Seen on the internet, e.g. here) Be Awake! Resources Four in five people in the UK believe in being ‘woke’ to race and social justice (The Guardian, 2022). War on wokeness: the year the right rallied around a made-up menace (Michael Harriot, The Guardian, 2022) [It is just another “label without meaning”: a cloak for racism, homophobia, transphobia and all manner of inequality]. Jesus is woke - can you see his halo? Jesus is virtue signalling. Jesus at that time was adored by the masses, as a messenger of God. Not caring about loss of respect, he shows his humility by riding on a lowly donkey into a holy city. This was a political act in contrast to the triumphal entry into Jerusalem of Roman governor Pontius Pilate on the same day. And I am sure he does it for the glory of God. (Jesus enters Jerusalem, Gustave Doré, 1891; Wikimedia Commons, no known copyright restrictions)

Also see:- Society articles Virtue articles ____________ If "woke" is the opposite of "fascist," I am superwoke, megawoke, McWoke, Kentucky Fried- woke, wokeaholic, wokerino, wokity wokity WOKE. (Seen on the internet, e.g. here) ____________